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What is the ideal waist size? As you might expect, recommendations vary.

Under the guidelines of the International Diabetes Federation, a normal waist line for a woman is 32 inches or less, and for a man it is 38 inches or less.

Many doctors are even more stringent,recommending a target of 30 inches or less for a woman and 35 inches for a man.

What is clear from a slew of research studies, is that your waist size matters. In fact, if you could change just one single thingabout your body that would have the greatest impact on your health, that single change should be decreasing your waist size.

Why? Several studies have found, your waist size actually can predict your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, disability,cancer and higher mortality. These studies have found that for every 5 inches that your waist size exceeds the ideal target, your risk for dying from any cause increases 20% to 40%.

The best way to reduce your waist size is first to get as close as you can to your ideal body weight. In addition to that, research studies have found that certain foods can help you to reduce fat around your abdomen, particularly foods high in omega-3 fatty acids such as halibut and salmon. For your quick reference, we have assembled a complete list of foods that shrink your waist.

In addition, research has found that, while most exercises if done consistently can help to reduce your overall body weight, only one type of exercise can reduce abdominal fat disproportionately. We discuss the type of exercise that studies have found to be effective at reducing visceral abdominal fat in some detail here.

Here is a chart of the range of waist sizes that are considered healthy for a woman of different heights. The column titled Waist-to-Height Ratio is a way to tell if you are considered overweight or at an unhealthy waist line.

Ideal Waist Size for Women of Different Heights (Chart for Men Below)

How does your Waist-to-Height Ratio compare with others? Here are some ratios for you to use as a comparison: (Article Continues Below)

Subjects Waist-to-Height Ratio Duchess of Cambridge(the former Kate Middletonhas a 23" waist and is 5'10") 32.8%

Ideal Waist Size for Men of Different Heights (Women Should Use the Chart Above. Men May Want to Bookmark this Chart)

Average Waist Size Is Not the Same as Ideal Waist Size

What is the average waist size in the US? The charts above giveyou the ideal waist sizes for men and women. Ideal waist sizes should be your goal if you want to stay healthy.But these are not the average waist sizes.

Waist sizes in the US and in the UK have increased dramatically over the past 40 years.

In fact, Government surveys have found that, over the past 40years, the average waist size for women in the US has increased23%, from 30 inches to 37 inches. The average waist size formen has increased 11.4%, from 35 inches to 39 inches.

It's clear that, overall, most of us are not maintaining a healthy waist size.

Update:

How Does the Average American Waist Size Compare to the Average Waist Size of Women in Europe?

And the news is not much better for the UK. A survey of over54,000 people in July of 2012 by researchers from NuffieldHealth, a UK charity, discovered that over 50% of all women inthe UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) have awaist size that is over the recommended healthy limit.

UK health authorities recommend a waist size of 80 cm (31.49)or less. But the study found that the average waist size forwomen in the UK is 84.9 cm (33.43) approximately 6% largerthan the healthy limit.

According to another study by scientists at TNS SofresHealthcare and Roche Pharmaceuticals in France, women allover Europe are experiencing the same increases in waist sizesand dress sizes that started to plague America. The study, leadby Dr. Marie-Aline Charles, discovered that since the 1950s, thewaist size of British women has grown by 6 inches. Their dresssize has increased from a size 12 in to 15. Perhaps moreremarkably, 47% of all British women are a size 16 or larger.

What about the French? Surprisingly, this same study foundthat in France, both women and men are starting to gain weightand grow larger waist lines, though they are still among thethinnest people in Europe.

Since 1990, the average French man and woman has gained6.83 lbs and put on 1.85 inches around the waist.

An earlier study by Dr. Marie-Aline Charles and otherscompleted in 2006 broke out the data just for French women.Looking at French women only, the data showed they have seentheir waistlines increase from 79.5 to 79.9 centimeters, stillbelow the magical "80 cm" healthy limit but, for theweight-conscious French, an unacceptable rise of almost 1/2 acentimeter --- less than 1/4 of an inch. (Read more on whyEuropeans are thinner.)

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